Chiefs quarter-season review: Wide receivers

As we continue our quarter-season review of each position on the Kansas City Chiefs, it’s time to check out the receivers.

Jeremy Maclin, Chris Conley, Tyreek Hill and Albert Wilson have all made contributions so far in 2016. Demarcus Robinson has only seen a few offensive snaps while De’Anthony Thomas has yet to be active during a game.

Let’s take a deeper look at the receivers’ performances in 2016.

Statistics

Jeremy Maclin:20 receptions, 244 yards, one touchdown

Chris Conley:15 receptions, 172 yards

Tyreek Hill:11 receptions, 67 yards, two touchdowns

Albert Wilson:10 receptions, 64 yards

Beyond the box score

Both Maclin and Conley are on pace for good seasons in 2016. Maclin would have more receptions and yards if not for the uncharacteristic drops he’s had this season. Conley has sort of picked up Maclin’s slack in that regard and has exceeded expectations thus far. Conley has firmly solidified himself as the No. 2 receiver on the team.

Hill and Wilson have around the same amount of catches and yards, but Hill has two touchdowns and has these numbers in a quarter of the snaps that Wilson has received. Most of Wilson’s yards came in garbage time against the Steelers in Week 4 so his play hasn’t been impressive at all. Even though Wilson receives more snaps than Hill, Wilson is more like the No. 4 receiver at this point production-wise.

Like I mentioned before, Robinson hasn’t seen the field much on offensive because he’s been on special teams. The Chiefs use three, sometimes four, tight ends during games so there isn’t much need for a fifth or sixth receiver. That’s why Thomas hasn’t been active yet this season (although I feel like he should be active over Wilson).

What to expect moving forward

Expect Smith to look Conley’s way more since those two have developed some chemistry this season. Also, the Chiefs will continue to throw in Hill on offense as they like him on those screens and fake receiver reverses.

Maclin needs to keep those drops to a minimum if the Chiefs want to see success on offense this year, and I believe the bye will help him (as well as the rest of the team) refocus.

I’m curious to see if Robinson, or even Thomas, gets mixed in on the offense at some point. There’s bound to be an injury or something so those guys might get to see some work. It’ll be interesting to see how they do, especially the rookie Robinson.